INTRODUCTION 
A convention between the United States and Great Britain for the 
protection of migratory birds was signed in 1916, and a similar convention be- 
tween the United States and Mexico became law in 1936. The treaty with Mexico 
includes the phrase "'...... by means of adequate methods which will permit, 
insofar as the respective high contracting parties sees fit, the utilization of said 
birds rationally for the purpose of sport, food, commerce, and industry"'. The 
Act which implements the treaties in the United States contains the following 
directive: ''......to determine when, to what extent, if at all, and by what 
means, it is compatible with the terms of the conventions to allow hunting..... ics 
The problem of determining when, and to what extent, waterfowl can 
be used rationally for sport and food is a complex one and demands that consider- 
able information be available concerning migration patterns, current population 
status of the various species, and the effect of hunting on the population. In 
order to meet their obligations in this respect, the Governments of Canada and 
the United States have conducted surveys and investigations for a number of 
years. The first successful survey of waterfowl population status was initiated. 
during the winter of 1935, when most of the wintering areas in the United States 
were censused. This survey was gradually expanded into Canada, Alaska, and 
Mexico so that the survey during recent years has covered the majority of the 
wintering areas in North America. Surveys of the breeding grounds were begun 
on an experimental scale in 1947. By 1952, these surveys had expanded until 
virtually all of the continental breeding areas producing important numbers of 
ducks were being censused. At first the breeding ground surveys were designed 
to measure changes in the size and distribution of the breeding population only, 
but more recently they have included a measure of changes in production as well. 
During the same period, an extensive banding program was being carried out in 
some of the more important portions of the breeding grounds. Although this 
program is still underway, preliminary findings have established approximate 
relationships between various portions of the breeding grounds and the four 
management Flyways into which the United States is divided. These data have 
provided a basis for accumulating the breeding ground survey data into a forecast 
of expected changes in the relative size of the fall flight of waterfowl in each of 
the Flyways. | 
In addition to the two population surveys, the Fish and Wildlife 
Service has conducted a survey among waterfowl hunters for the past several 
years for the purpose of determining the kill of waterfowl and the effect that 
changing shooting regulations has on the activities of the hunters. 
This report is a summary of the results of the winter survey, the 
breeding ground survey, and the kill survey. These data are brought together 
for the purpose of supplying administrators with all factual information available 
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